Antipater had become regent since Triparadisus, when he acquired the joint kings from the dead Perdiccas. He had taken them to Macedonia, but after his death left the
regency to his friend
Polyperchon instead of his son
Cassander. Cassander, therefore, allied himself with Antigonus,
Lysimachus and
Ptolemy as he prepared to confront Polyperchon. Following Antipater's death, Antigonus sent generous terms to Eumenes in Nora through Hieronymus of Cardia that were nearly the same as Eumenes' initial demands. Eumenes probably agreed to the terms in 318 BC, swore loyalty to Antigonus, and left Nora. Another, less probable account says that Eumenes escaped Nora by rewriting his oath of loyalty to the joint kings instead of Antigonus. With Macedonia in disarray, Antigonus prepared to conquer outward, revolt against the joint kings, and expand his power. Polyperchon, in order to shore up his allies in the coming conflict with Cassander, had written to Olympias requesting help; Olympias, already in contact with Eumenes, now wrote to him for advice. Eumenes told her to wait and see what would happen. Soon after, in the late summer of 318 BC, Polyperchon wrote to Eumenes himself, requesting an alliance in the name of the joint kings. Polyperchon said Eumenes could march to Macedonia and become guardian of the kings, or stay in Asia with supreme command over the region and remain "a protector of royalty" abroad. Furthermore, he promised Eumenes command over the Asian
treasuries (
Susa and
Cyinda, which would allow Eumenes to hire many mercenaries) and the allegiance of the formidable
Silver Shields, highly skilled veterans who had fought with Alexander for years, if he accepted. Eumenes decided to accept Polyperchon's offer, either out of a wish to protect the Argead royalty and Olympias, because of his own ambition and disinclination to be subordinate to another, or a combination of both factors. Eumenes' acceptance meant the war in Asia with Antigonus would start once again.
Campaign in Cilicia and Syria Eumenes acted quickly to muster his army and marched into Cilicia, evading an army Antigonus sent to capture him. In Cilicia he allied with
Antigenes and
Teutamus, the commanders of the famous Silver Shields, the same men who had once condemned him to death after Perdiccas' murder. Eumenes was able to secure control over the unruly commanders of the Silver Shields by playing on their undying loyalty to, and superstitious awe of, Alexander. He claimed that Alexander had visited him in a dream and told him that he would be present with them at every battle. Eumenes even went so far as to set up a tent for the late conqueror complete with a throne, diadem, and scepter. This "ingenious stratagem" consolidated Eumenes' control and placated his Macedonian officers, who felt that they were listening less to a Cardian foreigner and more to the late Alexander. As a result, Eumenes' orders were followed. Furthermore, Eumenes argued that as a Greek, a Cardian, "his only concern was the defence of the royal family". Eumenes used the royal treasury at Cyinda to recruit an army of mercenaries to add to his own troops, a process that took several months but built up a sizeable army. Propaganda attempts by Ptolemy to subvert supporters of Eumenes in Asia, military and political, failed uniformly. Antigonus attempted this as well and successfully convinced Teutamus (one of two commanders of the Silver Shields) but Antigenes, the other, stayed loyal to Eumenes, ironically because of his foreign heritage. Eumenes emerged from Antigonus' propaganda campaign with a generally greater authority among his Macedonian troops. In the winter of 318/317 BC, Eumenes left Cilicia and marched into
Syria and
Phoenicia, and began to raise a naval force on behalf of Polyperchon to sail to the
Aegean Sea. Ptolemy, who had recently conquered the area, did not stop him. When it was ready in early August of 317 BC, Eumenes sent the fleet west to reinforce Polyperchon, but it changed sides after meeting Antigonus's fleet off the coast of Cilicia. Meanwhile, Antigonus had settled his affairs in Asia Minor and marched east to take out Eumenes before he could do further damage. which Alexander the Great conquered. The title of "Upper Satrapies" is typically applied to the lands east of
Media (centre of the image) and the
Zagros Mountains. Polyperchon's campaign in Macedonia was failing, leaving Eumenes isolated; Eumenes himself, now knowing Antigonus was coming and that he could not help Polyperchon in Macedonia, marched out of Phoenicia in late August/early September, eastward through Syria into Mesopotamia, with the idea of gathering support in the
upper satrapies, where there was currently conflict.
Campaign in the Upper Satrapies Eumenes gained the support of Amphimachus, the satrap of Mesopotamia, then marched his army into Northern
Babylonia. During the march he negotiated with
Seleucus, the satrap of Babylonia, and
Peithon, the satrap of Media, seeking their help against Antigonus. Seleucus replied that he would not obey someone condemned to death, and Peithon was similarly unwilling. Eumenes wintered north of Babylon in 317/316 BC, during which time he sent the letters he had gotten from Polyperchon to satraps of the upper satrapies. These letters ordered the satraps, in the kings' names, to join him with all their forces. The upper satraps had already united their armies under the leadership of
Peucestas, satrap of
Persis, to combat the expansionism of Peithon and were willing to join Eumenes. Eumenes left his winter quarters early in the spring of 316 BC and marched on
Susa, a major royal treasury, in
Susiana. Seleucus and Peithon attempted to subvert the Silver Shields while Eumenes was in Babylonia, and when they failed flooded his camp. Eumenes drained the land and escaped, and Seleucus, unable to oppose him, signed a truce for his passage. In Susiana, Eumenes joined the already assembled army of the upper satraps. With this combined army Eumenes' could confidently match Antigonus. Peucestas, however, argued that he deserved the high command due to his high standing and large army. Eumenes' problem of divided command was exacerbated by Peucestas and his companions, but they were again placated by Eumenes' Tent of Alexander, where communal meetings would be held to direct the war against Antigonus. In late May, Eumenes reached Susa and extensively paid and rested his troops, while also paying
Eudamus for the support of his
war elephant corps. When Antigonus arrived in Susiana, Eumenes ordered the treasurer Xenophilus of Susa not to give anything to Antigonus. Eumenes then marched southeastwards into Persia, where he picked up additional reinforcements. He crossed the
Pasitigris, where he planned to ambush Antigonus, knowing he would be crossing blind.
Battle of the river Coprates Antigonus, meanwhile, had reached Susa and left Seleucus there to besiege the place while he himself pursued Eumenes towards the Pasitigris. Eumenes required more troops to block the entire river, and so asked Peucestas to recruit more; Peucestas initially refused to do so, resenting Eumenes, but eventually agreed. In the late July of 316 BC, Antigonus arrived at the river
Coprates (a
tributary of the Pasitigris) and prepared to cross. He sent an advance force ahead in boats to ensure a beachhead on the opposite side of the river. Eumenes, who had camped nearby and placed scouts across the breadth of the river to alert him, soon heard that Antigonus had sent over men and quickly rode over with an army. in
Iran, called the Coprates in ancient times. Too deep and fast moving to be
forded, Antigonus' only option to cross it was to utilize boats. Eumenes waited until the army was mid-crossing, and then surprised Antigonus' soldiers, easily routing them, capturing 4000 men while killing some 6000 others. Antigonus, whose soldiers were already struggling with the harsh temperatures, was faced with disaster. Effectively unable to cross with Eumenes' presence and victory, Antigonus abandoned the idea and turned back northward, moving up into Media and
Badace, then to
Ecbatana through a damaging forced march to rest his men. This move, "a sign of just how desperate Antigonus was after this first defeat", left open a route west, to Asia Minor, for Eumenes. Eumenes and his staff wanted to march westward, cut Antigonus's
supply lines and secure Asia Minor. If Eumenes had been able to move, Antigonus and his ally Cassander's position would have been greatly damaged, but the satraps, including Peucestas, refused to abandon their satrapies. Knowing that if he split his army off from the satraps it would be no match for Antigonus' superior force, Eumenes relented to their demands and remained in the east.
Stay in Persis Following the Coprates, Eumenes marched southeast towards
Persepolis over 24 days. As they were in Peucestas' home territory, the satrap hosted an enormous banquet and feast for all of Eumenes' army, successfully increasing his own popularity and further contesting Eumenes position as supreme commander. Eumenes, unwilling to confront the challenge to his authority openly, forged a letter reporting news from the west and had it widely circulated in his camp. Supposedly from the satrap of Armenia Orontes, the letter said that Olympias and Alexander IV had conquered Macedon, killed Cassander, and that Polyperchon was en route to Asia with a great army. The forged letter was believed because Eumenes had composed it in
Aramaic, the common language of the Persian Empire, and Orontes was a friend of Peucestas. This "clever trick" greatly bolstered Eumenes' position as royal general and reasserted his supreme command. Eumenes then acted against Peucestas' allies, summoning the satrap of
Arachosia Sibyrtius to a
show trial after seizing his baggage train, making him flee. To further assure the loyalty of his subordinates, Eumenes took large
loans (400 talents total) from them "in the name of the kings, thus binding them to him as anxious
creditors". Eumenes departed Persis and set out toward Antigonus when he heard Antigonus had left Ecbatana and was marching through Media. Eumenes wanted to battle Antigonus while his army had high morale, but while entertaining his troops became sick. Eumenes halted the march as his soldiers lost morale, as they regarded Eumenes as their greatest commander. He slightly recovered, but was compelled to give over supreme command to Peucestas and Antigenes to lead the army north while Eumenes himself convalesced, being carried in a litter. Antigonus hastened to battle Eumenes' army while Eumenes was ill. Eumenes recovered, however, and when the armies were within a day or so of each other resumed overall command to meet Antigonus.
Battle of Paraitakene In the late October or early November of 316 BC, the two armies met in southern Media, beginning the
Battle of Paraitakene. For five days Eumenes and Antigonus skirmished but did not engage in battle. Antigonus, on the fifth day, again attempted to subvert the Silver Shields, who again refused; Eumenes praised them for their loyalty. Eumenes then learned from deserters that Antigonus was planning to break camp and move away, and guessed Antigonus wanted to relocate to the region of Gabiene. In response to this, Eumenes bribed mercenaries to pretend to defect to Antigonus and report that he planned to attack Antigonus' camp at night. Antigonus believed the mercenaries and delayed his march, preparing for battle, while Eumenes split his army and set out immediately, gaining a six to seven hour head start on Antigonus to Gabiene. Antigonus learned he had been deceived and force marched to pursue Eumenes. He caught up to Eumenes by riding hastily with his cavalry, and forced Eumenes to array for battle by concealing the fact that the rest of his army had not caught up yet. After Antigonus had assembled his army, he engaged Eumenes., atop a
war elephant. The Battle of Paraitakene, with over 70,000 soldiers and 200 elephants total, was the first battle in
European history with war elephants on both sides. Eumenes positioned his elite troops on his right flank, including the Silver Shields, and led the elite cavalry himself. He placed his
war elephants and light infantry in a screen ahead of his heavy infantry. The formation was defensive as Eumenes did not want to attack Antigonus uphill. Peithon, sent by Antigonus against Eumenes' right cavalry, succeeded initially in confining them. In response Eumenes transferred troops to enlarge the flank and beat back Peithon, who fled; meanwhile Eumenes' Silver Shields were sharply victorious, routing the enemy phalanx. Antigonus, though now facing "annihilation", ignored advice to retreat and, observing a gap in the line between Eumenes' phalanx and his left flank cavalry, charged and routed them; Eumenes called back his victorious right flank in response. Though both generals reformed their armies and prepared to continue the battle, it was approaching night and the armies were too tired and hungry to proceed. Eumenes wanted to stay at the battlefield and bury the dead, thus allowing him to claim victory, but his troops wanted to return to their baggage train; fearing that a refusal would give his rivals for supreme command more power, Eumenes marched away. "Antigonus, however, had no such fears", and he was able to regain the battlefield and bury the dead, while proclaiming victory. Antigonus, whose casualties were more numerous, detained Eumenes' herald to finish burning his dead and obscure their amount. He then force marched his demoralized army to safety the next night. Eumenes returned to the battlefield and buried his own dead lavishly. He then settled into Gabiene while Antigonus, indecisively defeated, reached and rested in Media.
Interim to Gabiene During the winter of 316–315 BC, Eumenes' army camp was very widely spread, either because of insubordination or lack of supplies. He had stationed sentries on the roads, but not along the freezing desert routes into Gabiene (
Dasht-i Kavir, south east of
Isfahan). Antigonus, learning of this, planned to march through the desert and surprise attack Eumenes, but he was observed by some locals who reported it to his opponents. . Antigonus, after Paraitakene, rested his troops in a similar environment around the modern city of Nain. The satraps were alarmed by this, as Antigonus was four days away and it would take at least six days to assemble their army. Peucestas advised tactical retreat and withdrew his portion of the army to a remote area of Gabiene. Eumenes, however, successfully persuaded the satraps to remain by pointing out their troops would be well-rested while Antigonus' would be tired from traversing the desert, and told them of a plan which would give them enough time to assemble the whole army. After the conference Eumenes had his troops light numerous fires in the mountains bordering the desert every day. This made it appear as though Eumenes' entire camp was on the desert border, and Antigonus, observing this, delayed his march to rest his men for what he assumed would be another
pitched battle against Eumenes' whole army. Through this strategy Eumenes was able to delay battle and assemble his scattered army, though Antigonus did eventually learn the truth behind the fires. Eumenes success in preventing this attack raised his position and led many of the soldiers to ask him to lead them alone. Antigonus, however, was able to attack Eudamus and his elephant corps (they had been slow in leaving camp) and successfully killed many cavalry before being driven off by reinforcements sent by Eumenes. As the forces assembled Antigenes, Teutamus, and other prominent members of Eumenes' army began plotting to kill Eumenes after Antigonus was defeated. Eudamus learned of the conspiracy and warned Eumenes, who thought of fleeing but chose not to. Eumenes, who "was not a coward and obviously an individual confident in his own ability", may have believed that the battle was worth fighting, despite the risks, because of the possibilities if he was victorious. Eumenes destroyed his correspondence, wrote his
will, and prepared for the coming battle.
Battle of Gabiene A few days later both armies drew up for battle, beginning the
Battle of Gabiene. In the battle, Eumenes placed himself with his elite troops on the left flank in order to face Antigonus himself, who had positioned himself on his right flank. Again, Eumenes screened his cavalry with elephants and light infantry skirmishers. Eumenes' strategy focused on his phalanx and the Silver Shields; he ordered Philip (satrap of
Bactria, leading the weaker right Eumenid flank), one of his loyal supporters, not to engage the enemy. Eumenes had placed Peucestas and the other satrapal cavalry on his own flank, perhaps to ensure they followed his orders. Antigenes sent a single horseman to the enemy phalanx who was to face the Silver Shields; the horseman shouted that "[you] are sinning against your fathers, you degenerates, the men who conquered the world with Philip and Alexander!" This pronouncement apparently demoralized Antigonus' infantry, and was met with a cheer from Eumenes' troops; Eumenes then sounded the charge and his army marched forward. As the battle began, Antigonus, noticing that the movement of the troops kicked up clouds of dust that obscured sight, sent a sizeable cavalry contingent behind Eumenes' army to seize his
baggage camp, and successfully did so without Eumenes noticing. After the war elephants engaged one another, Eumenes' cavalry met the cavalry of Antigonus, which was led by Antigonus' son
Demetrius. Eumenes' left cavalry was defeated due to the sudden retreat of Peucestas and the satrapal horsemen, which led to panic and another 1500 cavalry retreating with him. This cavalry defeat was disastrous for Eumenes. He continued to struggle against Antigonus, leading his cavalry forward in a charge in an attempt to meet and kill Antigonus in single combat, but failing due to his inferior number of horsemen. Facing heavy losses and being vastly outnumbered, Eumenes eventually gave way and rode over to his right flank. . A skilled phalanx, like the Silver Shields, could adopt a square formation, pointing their spears (
sarissae) outward to become impervious to a cavalry charge. The Silver Shields, however, were again victorious, routing Antigonus' phalanx and inflicting mass casualties. Eumenes, noting that the enemy phalanx had been destroyed, attempted to regather his cavalry on the right flank for a final push. He had heard his baggage had been captured, but believed that if his united cavalry joined the Silver Shields a renewed offensive would not only reclaim the lost baggage, but rout Antigonus' army and claim their baggage as well. Peucestas and the satraps refused Eumenes' orders, withdrawing further away as night approached. Antigonus then unsuccessfully attacked the Silver Shields, who were able to retreat by forming a square and marching off of the battlefield. He prevented Eumenes' cavalry from linking up with the Silver Shields, and Eumenes was forced to withdraw.
Betrayal and Death The
Battle of Gabiene was effectively as indecisive as the previous battle at Parataikene. Although Eumenes had inflicted significantly greater casualties, he lost control of his army's baggage; in addition to all the loot of the Silver Shields (treasure accumulated over 30 years of successful warfare including gold, silver, gems and other booty), the soldiers' women and children were taken as well. Eumenes was now in a precarious position, as he had planned for victory or defeat, but not stalemate. He arrived at camp following the battle after the Silver Shields and satraps did, and a conference was held in the late evening. The satraps wished to retreat, but Eumenes wanted to battle again the next day, citing the fact that the cavalry were not greatly diminished and the Silver Shields' victory in the centre. Eumenes had reason to be optimistic about another engagement and may have been successful in persuading the army, but the Silver Shields themselves, though they blamed Peucestas for the inconclusive result of the battle, wished to get their baggage and families back and refused both options. The conference ended without a decision. Teutamus, one of their commanders, then sent the request to Antigonus to trade for a return of the baggage; Antigonus responded that they give him Eumenes in return, and the Silver Shields agreed, arresting Eumenes and leading him to Antigonus. Anson believes Eumenes, though he knew of the plot against his life, believed his skills as a commander would "obviously" be necessary for another battle against Antigonus and was thus taken off guard when actually arraigned. Eumenes, during his seizure, requested and was given permission to talk to the assembled army. According to Plutarch, Eumenes said: This speech apparently garnered sympathy from most of the army, but the Silver Shields, unconvinced, continued to lead Eumenes on, and they were able to do so without challenge. The war was thus at an end. Eumenes was given to Antigonus, who placed him under guard and held councils to decide his fate that lasted several days. Plutarch and Nepos write that Eumenes grew confused why Antigonus did not kill him or set him free; when his jailkeeper replied that if Eumenes wanted death he should have died in battle, Eumenes is said to have retorted that he had not died in battle because he had never encountered an opponent stronger than himself. Antigonus, supported by his son Demetrius and
Nearchus the Cretan, was disinclined to kill Eumenes, but most of the council and his soldiers demanded his execution and so it was decided. Antigonus starved Eumenes for three days but finally sent an executioner to strangle him when he had to move camp. Eumenes' body was given to his friends to be burnt with honour, and his ashes were conveyed in a silver urn to his wife and children. ==Legacy==